20,000 wrongly ticketed

Police have apologised after wrongly issuing more than 20,000
traffic tickets because of a computer glitch.

Police said the "temporary computer problem" resulted in
fines for those who were ticketed, including some for
vehicles they no longer owned.

Information from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) over the
period October 22 to December 16 was not automatically
updated on police systems, police said. The "isolated fault"
affected in excess of 20,000 traffic infringement notices.

Among those affected were people who had sold their vehicles
during the two-month period, who were then incorrectly
ticketed for offences incurred by the new owners or others
driving the vehicles, national road policing manager,
superintendent Carey Griffith said.

Also affected were people who had changed their address or
their surname after getting married.

"Police sincerely apologise to all of those who have been
affected by this one-off technical issue, which has now been
resolved," Mr Griffiths said.

"I can also reassure anyone who has been incorrectly ticketed
as a result of our mistake that they won't need to pay the
fine, and anyone who has paid in error will be completely
refunded."

Police became aware of the issue when a member of the public
contacted the Police Infringement Bureau (PIB) about a notice
received for a vehicle she no longer owned, he said.

However, the scale of the problem only became clear this week
as a result of ongoing investigations.

"Once the problem was brought to our attention, police took
action to investigate and ensure it was fixed," Mr Griffiths
said. "We have also put a number of steps in place to ensure
it does not happen again."

The affected traffic notices included mainly speed camera
infringements and a smaller number of other camera-related
notices including red light camera offences, as well as
police-issued parking notices.

Council-issued parking notices are not affected.

Higher demand during the busy holiday period also meant that
people attempting to contact the PIB about the problem over
the phone had experienced delays, Mr Griffiths said.

While the total amount of incorrectly issued notices was
unknown, the individual amounts involved could potentially
range from $30 to $630, he said.

"Police once again apologise to all those people affected by
this problem, including previous vehicle owners as well as
motor traders and dealers, who have understandably been
fielding calls and complaints from concerned customers.

"If anyone has questions or concerns over an infringement
they believe may have been issued incorrectly, we ask them to
make contact the PIB straight away with their notice details
so we can put it right," Mr Griffiths said.